Spotlight on…Ray Douglas

Written by Mary Isokariari on 3 November 2016 in Interviews

Interviews

First featured in the magazine, meet the man with a mission to give the disadvantaged hope for a better future.

Raymond Douglas went in to youth work straight from school, having grown up in a community with high levels of crime, drugs and prostitution. He always felt the need to make a difference, rather than becoming a statistic. His philosophy is that – even though some young people are born in deprived areas and society has labelled them – given the opportunity, the majority of young people wouldn’t act out this self-fulfilling prophecy of a life of crime.

In his early twenties, he went on to qualify as an adult education teacher in order to gain a better understanding of the theory of learning and behavioural change. At this time, there was a very obvious rise in gangs and serious youth violence across the UK.

Raymond felt that traditional youth work was no longer fit for purpose to engage this social pandemic, which led him to launch Anti Youth Violence. This intervention aims to reduce the number of young people at risk of life-threatening behaviour relating to gun, gang and knife crime.

Anti Youth Violence has been successfully delivered to young people throughout the UK within schools, Pupil Referral Units, prisons and Youth Offending Services. It became clear that there was a need to build practitioners’ CPD in how to engage young people at risk, giving rise to a new training programme called Gangology.

Why training and how did you start?

The desperate need for training of youth practitioners became more apparent, especially with the rise of gangs and the resulting fatalities. Practitioners who had studied youth work clearly had not been given the tools to manage this problem and were in urgent need of training to bring them up to date with issues such as trauma, music and violence, father deficit, ‘postcodism’ and viewing gang violence as a public health issue.

Anti Youth Violence initially began in Birmingham, which gained a lot of national exposure for a series of gang-related incidents. I started by studying a wide range of subjects – from the history of violence, public speaking and message mastery to internet marketing. This led me to develop cutting-edge content, including a short film called On Road which won the Best Short Film Award at the Harlem Film Festival.

Public speaking is something that’s always come naturally to me. My passionate interest in human behaviour and an ability to translate critical issues helps me to be well received, both by young people and practitioners.

Who or what inspires you?

People who bring new thinking, whether it be on history, marketing, high performance or social media. People like Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Brendon Burchard and Gary Vaynerchuk. Individuals like Malcolm X, who went from persistent offending to debating at Oxford University, right through to Travis Kalanick the co-founder of Uber. I also get massive inspiration from young people who achieve their ambitions, regardless of their circumstances.

What's been your lowest moment, and what your noblest hour?

Working with a 13-year-old who was on a 15-year sentence for murder. He will become an adult within the prison system. This boy, like many others, threw away his boyhood and sacrificed the usual things boys his age would be thinking about. Instead he will be in a room thinking about the life he took and all the things he will not get to do.

On a personal level, losing my father has to be my lowest point. He was a single, Jamaican, economic migrant, striving to raise a mixed-race child at the time of Margaret Thatcher when race riots were rife and there was no such thing as Sure Start!

My noblest hour has to be delivering public speaking training to 40 inmates, armed with nothing more than a flip chart and a marker pen! It ended with them quoting Aristotle and be able to use the Pathos-Ethos-Logos framework.

What and when was your career turning point?

My career turning point was when I was invited to attend UNESCO conflict resolution training in Northern Ireland. At that point, I realised that reducing gangs and serious youth violence could not come about by traditional, diversionary youth work activities, but rather by creating safe spaces for transformative change. I was so inspired, I brought back the trainer’s flip chart notes!

Describe your best learning and development experience?

Flying out to Silicon Valley and training under Brendon Burchard, one of the world’s leading thought leaders around high performance, leadership, coaching and message mastery. To see a trainer hold an audience of about 500 delegates for nine hours a day over three days was amazing.

He encompassed all the skills that a modern trainer should have – great public speaking, competent in online and offline marketing, content creation and coaching.

What's next in your career?

There’s a saying: “Don’t die with a book in you”. Well, there are about three in me right now! My aim is to see these published. They all contain a message that I need to share with the world.

I really want to see gangs and serious youth violence responded to as a public health issue, just like any other illness, so I’m hoping to start working on some projects to tackle this nationwide, working alongside therapists, clinical psychologists and most importantly the communities that are being destroyed. I want to address violence with a more systemic approach from as early as Key Stage 1 to adulthood, identifying the symptoms early in order to work towards a cure.

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“I have worked with Raymond within the prison environment over the past two years where I have found his work to be both inspiring and captivating. Through his commitment and drive, he has shown others how to help change the futures of adult males at HMP Featherstone. I hope that we can continue the working relationship we have developed over the years with Raymond and to continue to change the perspective of those who are held in custody at HMP Featherstone.”
Sadie Blain, HMP Featherstone

“Ray Douglas is a conscientious, insightful and creative intervention/prevention specialist. His commitment to contesting and challenging the status quo regarding youth violence makes Ray an important thought leader in his field. Ray is leading the way by making a valuable contribution towards a greater awareness and understanding of the need to locate youth violence as a public health issue.”
Dr Martin Glynn, Birmingham City University

“I have had the pleasure of working with Ray many times while he’s been visiting Swanwick Lodge. It’s always great to watch Ray working with our young people as he talks to them in a professional, caring manner. He is always very patient with our young people and gives them a chance to have their say.”
Kathryn Harrison, Swanwick Lodge Secure Children’s Home

“Working with Ray is a privilege. He brings a rare combination of skills to the table – evidence-based practice with deep insight, credibility and experience. Ray challenges constructively and is able to engage a wide range of audiences, sharing knowledge with impact.”
Dr Laura Zahra McDonald, ConnectJustice

“Ray is a powerful presenter, passionate about what he does, and making a difference. But he doesn’t let his passion get in the way, or become over-powering – he works to build relationships and connect with other people, where he can have most impact.”
Louise Teboul, Common Purpose

It’s all about me

Age

40(ish)

Family

Six children, one wife and two cats

Location

Originally Birmingham, but with a national remit

Hobbies

Listening to podcasts and I’m a wannabe coffee snob

Favourite places

Mecca – I’ve visited four times. It’s a place of pilgrimage and the sense of spirituality and reflection has a positive influence on my work

Favourite book

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Favourite movie

The Usual Suspects

Technology

All things Apple and Uber

Playing to win

My first tip is ‘read deep and wide’, which is from Stephen Covey’s The 7 habits of highly effective people. It sounds like a cliché, but readers are leaders. However, what I’ve observed is that a lot of people within the training space read a lot around their specialised subject matter but rarely delve into subjects out of their comfort zone. I’m currently reading French women don’t get fat and Giving up the gun: Japan's reversion to the sword, 1543-1879. Two very different books but both exploring human behaviour.

My second tip is: do legacy work, the return will astound you. Training is more than slides and handouts – it can create epiphanies for learners that they can implement years beyond that training day

Next, if people don’t accept your ideas, then create your own lane. How many inventions were shunned hundreds of times before they were accepted by society?

And finally, remember these three fundamentals: influence, impact and income. Reflect on your practice and always be the student first, even if you are the supposed ‘thought leader’.